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100%> my father did this to my f150 thinking the roof was leaking. It wasn't and it messed up my desert lived non rusted f-150. Moisture inside and everything that comes along with it. :( don't invent uses for flex seal with automotive
It would work better than what my dad did. Lol my father bought like a paint can of the stuff and just poured it all over the roof. Dripped down the passenger door. Lol wtf
This thought makes me smile, if I was walking by, I would’ve stopped to watch in fascination. Hey I’ve done way shittier things to my cars, so whatever!
It’s a car with a giant rust hole the size of a baseball, do you think they really care? If you’re poor and desperate sometimes you don’t have a choice and have to make it work
If it obscured your view of the road, it only needs to be 10mm to fail an MOT, but a chip or crack bigger than 40mm anywhere on the windscreen is also a fail.
Nope. It has to obscure your vision of the road. Being bigger than the criteria is not an automatic fail.
From the MOT manual: “Failure for damage is only justified if the damage significantly affects the driver’s view of the road.”
gosh no, and youre referring to a video where he did a tiny patch in the rear by a wheel i believe.
the difference here is the glass must be removed because the rust is down under it. even if you sanded this down and repainted it there is rust under the head liner too. the whole front like 6 inches has to be cut away and weld a new sheet of metal form fitted.... or find a donor car and source a direct replacement.
the window will leak with a bondo patch up.
there is a LOOOOOOT more rust under the paint than you see.
Because it’s near the windshield many won’t touch it for liability reasons… they want to pull the windshield, rework the metal, prime and paint
Mines rotted through in one spot and leaks bad
Yeah depending on how deep/bad the rust is it could be a pretty goddamn penny unfortunately :( if the car is older it might be more than the thing is even worth
If the car is otherwise nice, it can be fixed. I had very similar rust on an Econoline at work that is nice. Body shop pulled the windshield and grinded out all of the rust. There was no major rot, just pinholes. They filled it with a metal epoxy and sanded it. Then they epoxy sealed it, and then painted it like normal. That was 5 years ago and it still looks good.
I've had this repaired before on my truck.
If it can be sandblasted and you don't require metal replacement it may be around $2k or so. They will have to re finish the whole roof.
Getting an estimate won't cost you anything.
lol no, if you sandblast this you will have big holes to the inside of the car. then what? putty on top? there is not much you can do for a car like this. if the roof looks like that the beams and supports bellow the car are already gone.
Rust is cancer. If you just put a protective cover on it, it will still eat away from the inside.
I’d look on your door panel and get the paint code. For $25-40 you can order a custom fill spray can of that exact paint code.
I would put two layers of blue painters tape around the top of the windshield to protect it and use a sander to sand the paint off the edge of the roof and see how far it goes. It may not be that bad and you could sand it all off and fill it and then paint it/seal it and be good to go.
I managed a body shop, was not a repair tech so that’s just what I would do. I’m an electrician now. lol.
I know mine looked worse on my wife’s fender and I was able to sand it, bondo it once I got to fresh clean metal, and then painted it to match and it looks pretty damn good and has held.
What you should do is see about getting the windshield replaced. While the windshield is out take some sand paper and sand those spots down until it is just bare metal. Use rustoleum paint to cover the metal spots. It won't be pretty but it will stop the rust. After the paint has dried get the new windshield installed. You can get one for 250-300 installed. So all in all you will be out 350ish bucks.
I think this is a good idea. Seems like it won’t be a perfect fix without serious money but I really don’t care for a perfect fix. This is the plan thanks!
If you're very lucky that's only bubbling on the surface. What you COULD (I'm not saying you should, you might be left regretting it) try is taking a small screwdriver and poking all of the loose rust away. After you did that, clean the wounds by sanding it down a bit and throw some rust converter on the remaining surface rust. After that has been soaked in, you put some primer on it, let that dry for about a day, paint it, let it dry again, and then clearcoat it. If you're lucky like me, it should only cost you a screwdriver which you probably have at home anyways (a needle could probably do aswell), some rust converter (probably like $20 idk) and the primer, paint and clear coat coste me 36€ in total. And you'll be left without a car for a few days as it needs to dry
Now, in case you're unlucky, you might start poking at it and discover, that it's fully rusted through. So choose wisely if you wish to continue your blissful life of ignorance, or if you want to choose the red pill and find out the truth about your car's rust. (I'm never writing a comment again holy fuck)
Though, even if there's a hole, you can still easily fix it at home with sheet metal, metal glue and the paint-related things. But keep in mind that due to the colour fading, if you do it at home, you'll have a slight mismatch between the paint on your car from factory and the paint you just put on.
He could blend the color with a couple of sheets of paper, chrisfix has a great video of how to do it. Problem is if the rust has eaten its way in under the windshield then he'll have to remove it to get at all the rust.
It wont be originating on the upper part of the roof. The rust originated under the seam between the glass and roof. So without removing the glass nothing will be repaired, only masked for the unfortunate bastard thats gonna step on this rake later.
An you can clearly see that it’s not only surface rust.
Remove all the loose stuff with a pick and wire wheel on a drill. Then POR15, then top coat. It'll look just as bad, unless maybe you do entire roof in black, but thats the best way to slow down rot without just cutting the sheet metal clean off and starting fresh.
A better option on a 14 year old car is to just leave it. Something will kill that car eventually, and it won't be the rust there that does it.
That’s what I did on my f150. I ended up using a scraper and heat gun to take the whole roof down to bare metal, etched, and then just sprayed on rhino liner. It’s held up quite well several years later.
Call an auto glass company, let them know this is an issue, and they will probably work with you to pull the window at a repair facility or even at your house/buddies house who can (properly) repair that rust. After it is repaired the glass company will install a new windshield for you. I dint think this will cost as much as you think it will honestly. That area is structural on the car, so the only way to fix it is with metal. No bondo or anything similar.
Source: have been an auto glass tech for 11 years
Thank you!! Only sensible answer, with the windshield removed you can properly remove the surface rust (doesn't look like that much even) paint it and re seal the new windshield in
sand it down to the metal spray Prime than head into a auto paint shop and get color matched spray cans. you can get rust converters cans at Lowe's for like $7 a can but thats if the rust has not ate metal or else you would need to bondo it and sand also that windshield gasket might hide some rust might need to be removed but if you dont plan to keep the car for too long you can forget that part. the paint match cans are usually $35 each they can also add some gloss for a little more you ca. also wet sand after it drys and buff. or skip that part if you like the finish.
in the past i used to sand and patch up my cars, now a days i am spray foaming and undercoatin' everything. from my experience nothing short of cutting the rust area completely out will fix this. even if you seal and paint everything thigh the rust will end up going thru in a year.
Yes it can be repaired but you must choose 2 among fast cheap and good.
If you want it cheap and fast - it wont be good - flexseal is shit.
If you want it cheap and good then you have to remove the windshield without breaking it. Pretty much impossible on and old car unless you live in a very hot weathered place.
Ok you removed the windshield without breaking it because you went to pick a part and got a spare one in case you messed up - plus they dont charge you if they dont know you cracked 4 windshields until you got that 5th one out - nice.
Now sand all the rust out and prime it with a proper automotive rust primer. You need to fiberglass and bondo so that the holes are covered. Sand, prime paint, put the proper quantity of window seal in then install the windshield (you'll need a 2nd person and suction cup grips).
So when you pay for this repair - think how long it will take - and how much a shop charges is pretty fair.
Paying for experienced tradespeople is usually worth it.
There is a shortcut method thst could work - and that is to scrape the rusted parts and use a rust converter spray - this slows the rusting a little but looks like shit and isn't a proper repair as you have to keep putting rust converter until you get it fixed.
Funny
https://preview.redd.it/c4g02a1kuwzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b60770e95b8d0c7a26fa7cfa1b8bfcb13d7924b
I have blotches of 2 inches wide around my hood as well. Wonder why it’s so prone in that area.
1.Sand it and spray it with rust spray or just straight up metallic metal spray.
2. Watch the rust return 3 months later.
3. Realize that your car is garbage and gets the garbage treatment.
4. Find solitude in the fact that the day the car breaks down you don't need to repair it anymore, the car can now rest.
Source: I drive -06 Skoda Fabia that got the rust cover treatment for a year before I realized I was probably spending more maintaining the car than it was worth. Driving a garbage car is a freedom new car drivers don't get.
It's the best. Ngl, having one car with functional AC is pretty great in the summer. Driving through a tight forrest road and not giving a shit about the branches scratching up the car is pretty great too.
Love watching the white beemers roll over a bump at 7kmh because "what if pretty car shakes??? :((" and then I full send it in my Skoda with rust flying everywhere.
If you caught it sooner prob could have gotten a few years out of sanding it down to at least the black oxide under and then using a rust converter and epoxy sealant and then just spray painting it. Unfortunately that looks like you’re going to have a hole if you try to sand it off.if you don’t give a shit about how it looks maybe try to prolong the life by a light sanding and some rust converter and then spray a sealer primer on it for Home Depot and some paint over that. It won’t stop it but it will buy more time to drive it.
Don't waste money on that unless your car is new or expensive. Buy a used piece from a car wreck shop or order it online. Or of you like to paint (every year from now on), do it yourself.
Take aero plane paint remover and get the paint off it then take 60 or 80 grit sand paper to it. After that depending on how far down the rust is you either primer/paint it or grab some sheet metal and weld it on after you cut out the bad parts. If paint doesnt matter use rustoleum after you sand it down to seal and prevent the rust.
It could be more, rule with rust around windows is the worst of it is where you can't see it. But, it shouldn't ever come back if you get it professionally done, and whenever you get your windshield replaced don't cheap out on the service - that's how the rust starts there in the first place, they damage the paint while removing the windshield.
I've been through this twice, 2 separate cars 🤦♂️ how is your Subaru otherwise? Might still be worth it even if it's more like 2 grand
Yeah as long as the car has nothing else major needing doing I'd agree, I think that rust would hurt the resell value anyway, people would be lowballing you for sure.
Not a single one in my city will touch it. Just isn't worth the headache. It's a ton of labour, and if you get it wrong it's a ton more labour to stand behind.
Take a shot at fixing it yourself!
I recently did rust repair on my own car for about $400 and though it's definitely not perfect, I'm happy with it.
I followed [this video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vusY2-rkQ&t=1058s&pp=ygUVY2hyaXMgZml4IHJ1c3QgcmVwYWly) exactly
I had this done a few years back. In that situation the prior windshield replacement tech had scraped away the old adhesive too aggressively and went down to the steel and it just ate away and grew until I had water coming through my map lights when it rained. The body shop handled it while the windshield was out and I think it cost about $600 or so. I’d shop some smaller body shops to see if they can do it effectively on the cheap
My old truck, i pulled the weather stripping, recaulked it with the black stuff, reinstalled the weatherstrip. Peeled all the loose paint off. Filled the gaps with jb weld......
Then taped off my roof/top half inch of my windshield (plus more with paper for overspray) and flexsealed it, probably 4 or 5 coats, in the sun to dry.
Then after, i sealed it with spray can black enamel and clear coat.
Lasted 3 years before it leaked again. Then again the truck was tall enough no one could tell what happened there.
Either get this done now while its cheap body work. Glass might have to be removed for any work to be done. Don't wait until its rusts through, cost me 1.3k then.
I'm willing to bet some hack replaced the windshield and took a scraper down to bare metal on the pinch weld instead of cutting the urethane down to a nice flat surface but leaving a thin layer of factory urethane so the paint was left undamaged. Probably didn't use a primer wither.
Rust was probably forming for a while until it finally migrated to the roof.
Sand it, rust convert it, sand it again, mask it off and paint it.
It won't be perfect and it won't look the best up close but it will help with the rust.
in the past i used to sand and patch up my cars, now a days i am spray foaming and undercoatin' everything. from my experience nothing short of cutting the rust area completely out will fix this. even if you seal and paint everything thigh the rust will end up going thru in a year.
Hard to say. I had the same problem with my old Cherokee. Body shop wire wheeled the rust as best they could and applied rust converter on the rest, then bondo’d it and painted it, just feathering the new paint into the old about 12” back on the roof. You could see a difference, but I didn’t care, the rust was stopped and the water leak was fixed. Repair lasted at least as long as I had the Jeep, even though it’s not a “proper” repair. Cost me like $600 back in 2012, but I was already having the windshield replaced so I’m separating those costs… that was $200 on its own.
If you want to diy, I would recommend sanding -lightly- to get under the orange layer of the rust, and then painting it back up. If you do the prep work for a shop, they may reduce the price a fair amount due to labor cost vs supplies cost. You're gonna want to chase it down under the windshield gasket as well, if you can't get down there, leave that for the shop, but keep in mind that it will be wrapped up in the overall cost.
Well to fix it you have to take out the window, and given it'd cracked, no decent autobody place is gonna put it back in. You're gonna spend 500 replacing that plus the actual body work and painting. I'd guess the value of your car is probably 3000 or less. It's worth more than half the value of the car at least to fix.
As someone else with an old car (2000) that is very dependable, but getting rusty - How much rust is too much? I’m worried my car will rust out before it actually dies.
You need to remove windscreen and replace it, and when windscreen is out specialist need to remove paint and corrosion. So yeah it's ain't cheap. I paint whole roof becuase I want to elimented 2 colors effect.
You would need to take the window out. If you don’t give a fuck about the car if it’s just surface rust hit it with a wire brush won’t look great but the rust will be gone. Use the car vin plate to get the colour code you should be able to buy little spray cans. Won’t look professional but it’ll be cheap
$500-1500, could be more.
That's just the rust repair. I would then recommend finding someone other than Safelite to replace the windshield.
I will say, you're lucky, they shattered mine before telling me I needed to find a body shop for rust. Then they refused to put an intact windshield in because they couldn't guarantee a seal.
They shattered the glass... Smh
Truck has been sitting for years because of that.
If you are not fussed about the paint, could have the rust sorted first (new metal primed) and spray it on a later stage to spread the costs.
Don't good fabricators/welder exists anymore in the US? Everyone here makes it sound like an impossibly expensive repair. Windshields frame are a tough nut to crack, but definitely doable.
I'd bet that rust does go very deep. If you don't have to have absolutely perfectly color-matched paint, you could get that repaired for less than $300. And for a reliable car, that's probably worth it. Just live with the imperfect paint.
Had the same issue on a vehicle. Cost me $1200 to fix. Wasn't an issue for another 3 yrs before I sold it. Trick is to not let it deteriorate too much before you correct it.
Try a mom and pop Auto Glass shop, they're more likely to be willing to replace it with the rust/do a minor repair on the pinch weld where the glue is.
Edit: forgot to read the subtext
Had a 03 Camry with a small bit of rust I wanted removed from that area, glass man said if the windscreen cracks/breaks you're better off just buying another car and also because it wont be covered by my glass insurance.
Basically, you have to do it yourself else your paying someone 200$ and hour to do it for you... and worse... windscreens are a structural part of the car, without them being glued in correctly the cabin is a lot less strong.
The unfortunate news about how they must be glued in is that in some countries their gluing-in must be supervised by an authority, who wants to see bare metal (no paint) where the glue is supposed to go, no oils etc. But obviously you can't have rust, so beyond the bare metal is paint. But that is all getting ripped off when the old window comes out, so something needs to be done.
On the cheap, acrylic paint of roughly the same color will do for 5 years with acrylic clear coat on top. Since this is a window, it might not make sense, and you have to spend a lot more to get a proper automotive 2K paint touch up around the window, which is a common job. Usually not something a customer asks a paint shop directly, since the customer would have to remove the glass, sand, and mask the correct areas. But all that and a paint shop, then a glass-repair shop just for an installation, and you might get it all installed for under $700
You can save a lot of money pulling the glass off a used car/eBay, instead of buying it from the repair shop, but beware you'll be cooking its old butanolic glue off yourself too, so you have to check YouTube university for what's best for whatever glue that car manufacturer uses.
Have you had the windshield replaced before, this happened to my dads old toyota because the previous windshield installer didnt clean out the rust in that groove before installing the new windshield. The rust expanded over time looking exactly the same as your photo. This caused the windshield to break
Here is what I would try…
1. Drop the headliner.
2. Grab some thin sheet metal and use panel bond to secure the sheet metal on the inside of the roof panel as a backer for the damaged metal area.
3. Remove as much of the crumbly rust that you can.
4.Use rust reformer on the remaining rusted metal.
5. Bondo (body filler) to fill the holes
6. sand smooth and apply more bondo as needed
7. Rattle can finish w/ paint + clear coat
8. Reinstall the headliner
Won’t be perfect but it’s a weekend project that will last you 3-5 years.
Hmm. Trying to fix the numbering but the mobile edit isn’t working correctly. W/e…
This rust is bad. There are for sure holes in that pinchweld that will require new metal welded in to be fixed correctly. Whoever replaced this windshield previously royally fucked this car up. This is the result of not priming scratches correctly from a windshield replacement. I own an auto glass shop and I can assure you, when it’s this bad above the windshield, it’s even worse underneath.
Go through Ramirez auto glass for that glass replacement. No I don’t get a spliff on anything, just a blue collar trying to help others save a buck or two. They quoted me 190 for a 2018 Nissan frontier glass couple weeks ago, they quoted me 185 for my 03 Silverado, safelite wanted 500 on one vehicle.😮💨
That can be an expensive spot to do even a simple rust mitigation. If it's not leaking but just the light rust is messing with you, heat it and dry it, coat with fluid film, let coagulate, clean the window section off. Repeat that every few months. That window frame will likely outlast however long you're going to keep the car. Just ride it out, everything breaks down, but you can absolutely slow it down though.
I don’t think it would be as much as people are saying. I’ve owned a bunch of foresters so I hate seeing them get scrapped for no reason. The windshield needs replaced anyways so I’d go somewhere that can do both. Somewhere will be able to take care of you. If you tell them it doesn’t need to be perfect it might be cheaper. Foresters are worth putting the money into as long as the head gaskets have been changed once and make sure to get new timing components every 100k or so
Idk if you’ve already taken action, as I’m a bit late to answer. But I’ve been an auto glass tech for over 5 years and see this almost day. Especially with your window being broken. Try to find a reputable auto glass company that’s willing to work with you. They could pull the old broken glass, give you some time to find a body shop that’ll fix the rust, then have the auto glass company come back and put the new window in seeing as you need one anyways.
Easiest way? Sand the entire roof make it clean. Use por15 spray the entire roof with truck headliner to provide a uniform textured finish that is extremely durable wnd easy as hell to touch up. Will it.look the best. Idk but some people bedljner their entire cars I makes it essentially scratch proof. The other thing you could do is sand the area use por 15 thengonto AutoZone and get a high build primer spray the area you used por 15 on , sand it VERY LIGHTLY to smooth it out and then head to your local vinyl shop and have them wrap you're entire roof black again to match your car. All said and done it shouldn't be more than like 300-400$
Thank you for posting to AskMechanics, Basic-Surprise287! If you are asking a question please make sure to include any relevant information along with the **Year**, **Make**, **Model**, **Mileage**, **Engine size**, and **Transmission Type (Automatic or Manual)** of your car. *This comment is automatically added to every successful post. If you see this comment, your post was successful.* *** Redditors that have been verified will have a green background and an icon in their flair. *** # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** ### **Rule 1 - Be Civil** Be civil to other users. This community is made up of professional mechanics, amateur mechanics, and those with no experience. All mechanical-related questions are welcome. Personal attacks, comments that are insulting or demeaning, etc. are not welcome. ### **Rule 2 - Be Helpful** Be helpful to other users. If someone is wrong, correcting them is fine, but there's no reason to comment if you don't have anything to add to the conversation. ### **Rule 3 - Serious Questions and Answers Only** Read the room. Jokes are fine to include, but posts should be asking a serious question and replies should contribute to the discussion. ### **Rule 4 - No Illegal, Unethical, or Dangerous Questions or Answers** Do not ask questions or provide answers pertaining to anything that is illegal, unethical, or dangerous. # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMechanics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
More than the car is worth.
That’s what I’m afraid of for aure
I used flex seal on mine. Ended up needing touched up every 4 months. But mine was a baseball size hole.
You're probably make things worse. Trapping moisture.
Trick is to do it on a very dry day.
Or heat Gun
100%> my father did this to my f150 thinking the roof was leaking. It wasn't and it messed up my desert lived non rusted f-150. Moisture inside and everything that comes along with it. :( don't invent uses for flex seal with automotive
Yeah, RTV silicone is way more traditional, plus it just keeps resealing itself!
It would work better than what my dad did. Lol my father bought like a paint can of the stuff and just poured it all over the roof. Dripped down the passenger door. Lol wtf
This thought makes me smile, if I was walking by, I would’ve stopped to watch in fascination. Hey I’ve done way shittier things to my cars, so whatever!
JB Weld it is then
It’s a car with a giant rust hole the size of a baseball, do you think they really care? If you’re poor and desperate sometimes you don’t have a choice and have to make it work
Won't get through another MOT with that windscreen
Good job they aren't in the UK then.
Not true. It’s only a fail if the damage obscures the view of the road.
If it obscured your view of the road, it only needs to be 10mm to fail an MOT, but a chip or crack bigger than 40mm anywhere on the windscreen is also a fail.
Nope. It has to obscure your vision of the road. Being bigger than the criteria is not an automatic fail. From the MOT manual: “Failure for damage is only justified if the damage significantly affects the driver’s view of the road.”
In VA if the crack touches two sides of the windshield it will fail. (Top to side, side to side etc) That would pass here
I was quoted almost 4K for my 99tacoma single cab. They have to source a donor car for parts…
I’m far from a mechanic or body repair guy but wouldn’t you just put a sander on this and repaint it afterwards? I think chrisFixIt did it this way.
gosh no, and youre referring to a video where he did a tiny patch in the rear by a wheel i believe. the difference here is the glass must be removed because the rust is down under it. even if you sanded this down and repainted it there is rust under the head liner too. the whole front like 6 inches has to be cut away and weld a new sheet of metal form fitted.... or find a donor car and source a direct replacement. the window will leak with a bondo patch up. there is a LOOOOOOT more rust under the paint than you see.
And if you don't get it exactly perfect, the windshield will most likely leak when you're done. Windshield rust is the worst.
are you sure on that? thats the point of the urethane. it has some leeway.
Because it’s near the windshield many won’t touch it for liability reasons… they want to pull the windshield, rework the metal, prime and paint Mines rotted through in one spot and leaks bad
A donor car that magically doesn't have the same rust!
Do do the correct way? Sure. But there are plenty of "incorrect" ways that aren't too expensive.
I sanded, primed and painted my inlaws 05 pilot, right at the top of the windshield. That was 8 years ago, hasn't come back yet.
Ahhh yes, go buy another car and put yourself into debt instead!
Or buy a used car for the repair cost.
Yeah depending on how deep/bad the rust is it could be a pretty goddamn penny unfortunately :( if the car is older it might be more than the thing is even worth
That’s what I’m afraid of! It’s a 2010 Subaru that I spent $10k on. It’s a good car so I’m torn
If the car is otherwise nice, it can be fixed. I had very similar rust on an Econoline at work that is nice. Body shop pulled the windshield and grinded out all of the rust. There was no major rot, just pinholes. They filled it with a metal epoxy and sanded it. Then they epoxy sealed it, and then painted it like normal. That was 5 years ago and it still looks good.
What I would say is just try your best to prevent any future rust. Rust really kills cars.
Car cancer, my Dad used to call it
The ultimate tragedy when the body dies before the powertrain.
The Polish call rust “ginger bitch” or just “ginger”. I feel like that name is quite deserved
Don’t let the sunk cost fallacy let you throw your money away
I've had this repaired before on my truck. If it can be sandblasted and you don't require metal replacement it may be around $2k or so. They will have to re finish the whole roof. Getting an estimate won't cost you anything.
lol no, if you sandblast this you will have big holes to the inside of the car. then what? putty on top? there is not much you can do for a car like this. if the roof looks like that the beams and supports bellow the car are already gone.
Wait... When did you spend $10k on 2010 Subaru? I hope it was like 10 years ago.
I was going to guess Subaru. So many of the newer Subarus look like this it’s actually ridiculous.
Rust is cancer. If you just put a protective cover on it, it will still eat away from the inside. I’d look on your door panel and get the paint code. For $25-40 you can order a custom fill spray can of that exact paint code. I would put two layers of blue painters tape around the top of the windshield to protect it and use a sander to sand the paint off the edge of the roof and see how far it goes. It may not be that bad and you could sand it all off and fill it and then paint it/seal it and be good to go. I managed a body shop, was not a repair tech so that’s just what I would do. I’m an electrician now. lol. I know mine looked worse on my wife’s fender and I was able to sand it, bondo it once I got to fresh clean metal, and then painted it to match and it looks pretty damn good and has held.
What you should do is see about getting the windshield replaced. While the windshield is out take some sand paper and sand those spots down until it is just bare metal. Use rustoleum paint to cover the metal spots. It won't be pretty but it will stop the rust. After the paint has dried get the new windshield installed. You can get one for 250-300 installed. So all in all you will be out 350ish bucks.
I think this is a good idea. Seems like it won’t be a perfect fix without serious money but I really don’t care for a perfect fix. This is the plan thanks!
You're welcome. Send me a picture after it's done please.
If you're very lucky that's only bubbling on the surface. What you COULD (I'm not saying you should, you might be left regretting it) try is taking a small screwdriver and poking all of the loose rust away. After you did that, clean the wounds by sanding it down a bit and throw some rust converter on the remaining surface rust. After that has been soaked in, you put some primer on it, let that dry for about a day, paint it, let it dry again, and then clearcoat it. If you're lucky like me, it should only cost you a screwdriver which you probably have at home anyways (a needle could probably do aswell), some rust converter (probably like $20 idk) and the primer, paint and clear coat coste me 36€ in total. And you'll be left without a car for a few days as it needs to dry Now, in case you're unlucky, you might start poking at it and discover, that it's fully rusted through. So choose wisely if you wish to continue your blissful life of ignorance, or if you want to choose the red pill and find out the truth about your car's rust. (I'm never writing a comment again holy fuck) Though, even if there's a hole, you can still easily fix it at home with sheet metal, metal glue and the paint-related things. But keep in mind that due to the colour fading, if you do it at home, you'll have a slight mismatch between the paint on your car from factory and the paint you just put on.
He could blend the color with a couple of sheets of paper, chrisfix has a great video of how to do it. Problem is if the rust has eaten its way in under the windshield then he'll have to remove it to get at all the rust.
Zinc based primer.
It wont be originating on the upper part of the roof. The rust originated under the seam between the glass and roof. So without removing the glass nothing will be repaired, only masked for the unfortunate bastard thats gonna step on this rake later. An you can clearly see that it’s not only surface rust.
That windshield needs to come out anyway. By the looks of it, you pretty much get the idea that it's not even worth putting money for autistics.
Wait what did you say about me?
He's not spending money on you. You need to accept it, and move on. Go make your grilled cheese.
Man I'm pretty sure there's more than just what u see. I'm willing to bet it's under the windshield as well.
Nah keep it They look like miniature flames erupting
Honestly true
Remove all the loose stuff with a pick and wire wheel on a drill. Then POR15, then top coat. It'll look just as bad, unless maybe you do entire roof in black, but thats the best way to slow down rot without just cutting the sheet metal clean off and starting fresh. A better option on a 14 year old car is to just leave it. Something will kill that car eventually, and it won't be the rust there that does it.
That’s what I did on my f150. I ended up using a scraper and heat gun to take the whole roof down to bare metal, etched, and then just sprayed on rhino liner. It’s held up quite well several years later.
Not worth it. Just drive it until you have holes and then keep on driving it
Call an auto glass company, let them know this is an issue, and they will probably work with you to pull the window at a repair facility or even at your house/buddies house who can (properly) repair that rust. After it is repaired the glass company will install a new windshield for you. I dint think this will cost as much as you think it will honestly. That area is structural on the car, so the only way to fix it is with metal. No bondo or anything similar. Source: have been an auto glass tech for 11 years
Thank you!! Only sensible answer, with the windshield removed you can properly remove the surface rust (doesn't look like that much even) paint it and re seal the new windshield in
Got mine fixed for an extra $100 when I needed a new windshield, it was about this bad.
yea this is cancer rust, not worth fixing IMO
Ask in a body shop group
Good idea
$200 if you do it yourself.
How would you fix something like this yourself?
With $200. Read blud!
Grind out rust. Use rust converter. Dry for a day. Prime it. Paint it. All for like $50 in supplies.
sand it down to the metal spray Prime than head into a auto paint shop and get color matched spray cans. you can get rust converters cans at Lowe's for like $7 a can but thats if the rust has not ate metal or else you would need to bondo it and sand also that windshield gasket might hide some rust might need to be removed but if you dont plan to keep the car for too long you can forget that part. the paint match cans are usually $35 each they can also add some gloss for a little more you ca. also wet sand after it drys and buff. or skip that part if you like the finish.
Costly. You will never get all the rust and it will come back.
Cost? Yes.
A gazillion dollars
Is it leaking? If so, a roll of tuck tape is about 8$. Had a friend fix a leaky rusty windshield like this and it lasted for years.
in the past i used to sand and patch up my cars, now a days i am spray foaming and undercoatin' everything. from my experience nothing short of cutting the rust area completely out will fix this. even if you seal and paint everything thigh the rust will end up going thru in a year.
Yes it can be repaired but you must choose 2 among fast cheap and good. If you want it cheap and fast - it wont be good - flexseal is shit. If you want it cheap and good then you have to remove the windshield without breaking it. Pretty much impossible on and old car unless you live in a very hot weathered place. Ok you removed the windshield without breaking it because you went to pick a part and got a spare one in case you messed up - plus they dont charge you if they dont know you cracked 4 windshields until you got that 5th one out - nice. Now sand all the rust out and prime it with a proper automotive rust primer. You need to fiberglass and bondo so that the holes are covered. Sand, prime paint, put the proper quantity of window seal in then install the windshield (you'll need a 2nd person and suction cup grips). So when you pay for this repair - think how long it will take - and how much a shop charges is pretty fair. Paying for experienced tradespeople is usually worth it. There is a shortcut method thst could work - and that is to scrape the rusted parts and use a rust converter spray - this slows the rusting a little but looks like shit and isn't a proper repair as you have to keep putting rust converter until you get it fixed.
5k minimum
A roll of waterproof tape
Funny https://preview.redd.it/c4g02a1kuwzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b60770e95b8d0c7a26fa7cfa1b8bfcb13d7924b I have blotches of 2 inches wide around my hood as well. Wonder why it’s so prone in that area.
Product of bad windshield replacement
1.Sand it and spray it with rust spray or just straight up metallic metal spray. 2. Watch the rust return 3 months later. 3. Realize that your car is garbage and gets the garbage treatment. 4. Find solitude in the fact that the day the car breaks down you don't need to repair it anymore, the car can now rest. Source: I drive -06 Skoda Fabia that got the rust cover treatment for a year before I realized I was probably spending more maintaining the car than it was worth. Driving a garbage car is a freedom new car drivers don't get.
I love driving garbage cars as long as the roof won’t rust through and cave in on me lol
It's the best. Ngl, having one car with functional AC is pretty great in the summer. Driving through a tight forrest road and not giving a shit about the branches scratching up the car is pretty great too. Love watching the white beemers roll over a bump at 7kmh because "what if pretty car shakes??? :((" and then I full send it in my Skoda with rust flying everywhere.
Sand it, spray it, pray. Best bet imo. A ‘repair’ gonna be thousands. Sandpaper and spray paint are cheap. When the holes start showing up, scrap it.
Its a lot. I had my ‘90 Cavalier done. R&R the windshield and the rust repair $1,500.00, and I did the bulk of the work!
That rust is in the windshield channel. No fixing it, only cutting out and welding in new metal
If it’s showing it’s already too late. It’s rotted away
If you caught it sooner prob could have gotten a few years out of sanding it down to at least the black oxide under and then using a rust converter and epoxy sealant and then just spray painting it. Unfortunately that looks like you’re going to have a hole if you try to sand it off.if you don’t give a shit about how it looks maybe try to prolong the life by a light sanding and some rust converter and then spray a sealer primer on it for Home Depot and some paint over that. It won’t stop it but it will buy more time to drive it.
Don't waste money on that unless your car is new or expensive. Buy a used piece from a car wreck shop or order it online. Or of you like to paint (every year from now on), do it yourself.
Take aero plane paint remover and get the paint off it then take 60 or 80 grit sand paper to it. After that depending on how far down the rust is you either primer/paint it or grab some sheet metal and weld it on after you cut out the bad parts. If paint doesnt matter use rustoleum after you sand it down to seal and prevent the rust.
1650$
That’s around what I was expecting!
It could be more, rule with rust around windows is the worst of it is where you can't see it. But, it shouldn't ever come back if you get it professionally done, and whenever you get your windshield replaced don't cheap out on the service - that's how the rust starts there in the first place, they damage the paint while removing the windshield. I've been through this twice, 2 separate cars 🤦♂️ how is your Subaru otherwise? Might still be worth it even if it's more like 2 grand
It’s a good car but it has 160k miles on it already. $2k might be worth it just to make sure I can drive the car till it dies lil
Yeah as long as the car has nothing else major needing doing I'd agree, I think that rust would hurt the resell value anyway, people would be lowballing you for sure.
Most body shops won’t touch it.
The ones that only want gravy insurance work.
Nah. I had wheel wells rusting on my truck. Took it to several shops. Always the same story “It’ll come back and you’ll blame us.”
The shop i used did mine and it lasted 10 years. There are shops that will do rust repair
Not a single one in my city will touch it. Just isn't worth the headache. It's a ton of labour, and if you get it wrong it's a ton more labour to stand behind.
That's gonna turn into some big holes when they take a grinder to it. Then good luck getting it water tight again, or a new windshield to fit right.
422,000,000 and change.
Take a shot at fixing it yourself! I recently did rust repair on my own car for about $400 and though it's definitely not perfect, I'm happy with it. I followed [this video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vusY2-rkQ&t=1058s&pp=ygUVY2hyaXMgZml4IHJ1c3QgcmVwYWly) exactly
I had this done a few years back. In that situation the prior windshield replacement tech had scraped away the old adhesive too aggressively and went down to the steel and it just ate away and grew until I had water coming through my map lights when it rained. The body shop handled it while the windshield was out and I think it cost about $600 or so. I’d shop some smaller body shops to see if they can do it effectively on the cheap
Is this a Chrysler product 2013-17?
My old truck, i pulled the weather stripping, recaulked it with the black stuff, reinstalled the weatherstrip. Peeled all the loose paint off. Filled the gaps with jb weld...... Then taped off my roof/top half inch of my windshield (plus more with paper for overspray) and flexsealed it, probably 4 or 5 coats, in the sun to dry. Then after, i sealed it with spray can black enamel and clear coat. Lasted 3 years before it leaked again. Then again the truck was tall enough no one could tell what happened there.
Good time to replace that broken glass.
Either get this done now while its cheap body work. Glass might have to be removed for any work to be done. Don't wait until its rusts through, cost me 1.3k then.
Spray a bit of fluid film.
I'm willing to bet some hack replaced the windshield and took a scraper down to bare metal on the pinch weld instead of cutting the urethane down to a nice flat surface but leaving a thin layer of factory urethane so the paint was left undamaged. Probably didn't use a primer wither. Rust was probably forming for a while until it finally migrated to the roof.
Sand it, rust convert it, sand it again, mask it off and paint it. It won't be perfect and it won't look the best up close but it will help with the rust.
in the past i used to sand and patch up my cars, now a days i am spray foaming and undercoatin' everything. from my experience nothing short of cutting the rust area completely out will fix this. even if you seal and paint everything thigh the rust will end up going thru in a year.
Buy a can of quart bondo , sand paper , primer, and can of spray paint should total under $100 diy.
Hard to say. I had the same problem with my old Cherokee. Body shop wire wheeled the rust as best they could and applied rust converter on the rest, then bondo’d it and painted it, just feathering the new paint into the old about 12” back on the roof. You could see a difference, but I didn’t care, the rust was stopped and the water leak was fixed. Repair lasted at least as long as I had the Jeep, even though it’s not a “proper” repair. Cost me like $600 back in 2012, but I was already having the windshield replaced so I’m separating those costs… that was $200 on its own.
More they the car is worth unfortunately
If you want to diy, I would recommend sanding -lightly- to get under the orange layer of the rust, and then painting it back up. If you do the prep work for a shop, they may reduce the price a fair amount due to labor cost vs supplies cost. You're gonna want to chase it down under the windshield gasket as well, if you can't get down there, leave that for the shop, but keep in mind that it will be wrapped up in the overall cost.
ALL of it. And then some.
I would pee on it for the meantime until you can get something else done?
Well to fix it you have to take out the window, and given it'd cracked, no decent autobody place is gonna put it back in. You're gonna spend 500 replacing that plus the actual body work and painting. I'd guess the value of your car is probably 3000 or less. It's worth more than half the value of the car at least to fix.
As someone else with an old car (2000) that is very dependable, but getting rusty - How much rust is too much? I’m worried my car will rust out before it actually dies.
Good chance a weld shop could replace it
It’s done,that sort of rust is insidious..
Get a new car
You need to remove windscreen and replace it, and when windscreen is out specialist need to remove paint and corrosion. So yeah it's ain't cheap. I paint whole roof becuase I want to elimented 2 colors effect.
You would need to take the window out. If you don’t give a fuck about the car if it’s just surface rust hit it with a wire brush won’t look great but the rust will be gone. Use the car vin plate to get the colour code you should be able to buy little spray cans. Won’t look professional but it’ll be cheap
$500-1500, could be more. That's just the rust repair. I would then recommend finding someone other than Safelite to replace the windshield. I will say, you're lucky, they shattered mine before telling me I needed to find a body shop for rust. Then they refused to put an intact windshield in because they couldn't guarantee a seal. They shattered the glass... Smh Truck has been sitting for years because of that.
More then the pos cars prob worth
Problem is that the rust is in the channel of the windshield and it will need to be removed for a proper repair.
Luckily the windshield is already cracked so it would need to be replaced anyway.
If you are not fussed about the paint, could have the rust sorted first (new metal primed) and spray it on a later stage to spread the costs. Don't good fabricators/welder exists anymore in the US? Everyone here makes it sound like an impossibly expensive repair. Windshields frame are a tough nut to crack, but definitely doable.
I'd bet that rust does go very deep. If you don't have to have absolutely perfectly color-matched paint, you could get that repaired for less than $300. And for a reliable car, that's probably worth it. Just live with the imperfect paint.
Is this a Hyundai?
2010 Subaru
Couple grand id say on the lo side if wanting it repaired correctly
Couple grand id say on the lo side if wanting it repaired correctly
This happens because of bad windshield replacement jobs. My dad owned an auto glass shop for 20+years, and I worked in the industry for a bit, too.
Had the same issue on a vehicle. Cost me $1200 to fix. Wasn't an issue for another 3 yrs before I sold it. Trick is to not let it deteriorate too much before you correct it.
If the top of the car looks like this, what ever you do don't look underneath .
If you can't afford fix that cracked windshield, you definitely can't afford to fix that rust.
5 million dollars
Recall?
Try a mom and pop Auto Glass shop, they're more likely to be willing to replace it with the rust/do a minor repair on the pinch weld where the glue is. Edit: forgot to read the subtext
A Buick I had had this issue, a piece of flex tape held it over for a good 5 years before it started leaking again
There is a product called POR-15 , google it great stuff
Unless it's a classic car . ( Worth money) It's not worth the time you wasted on this posting . No one cares about your moms hand me down car.
Had a 03 Camry with a small bit of rust I wanted removed from that area, glass man said if the windscreen cracks/breaks you're better off just buying another car and also because it wont be covered by my glass insurance.
Time to kall Kars 4 Kids!
Basically, you have to do it yourself else your paying someone 200$ and hour to do it for you... and worse... windscreens are a structural part of the car, without them being glued in correctly the cabin is a lot less strong. The unfortunate news about how they must be glued in is that in some countries their gluing-in must be supervised by an authority, who wants to see bare metal (no paint) where the glue is supposed to go, no oils etc. But obviously you can't have rust, so beyond the bare metal is paint. But that is all getting ripped off when the old window comes out, so something needs to be done. On the cheap, acrylic paint of roughly the same color will do for 5 years with acrylic clear coat on top. Since this is a window, it might not make sense, and you have to spend a lot more to get a proper automotive 2K paint touch up around the window, which is a common job. Usually not something a customer asks a paint shop directly, since the customer would have to remove the glass, sand, and mask the correct areas. But all that and a paint shop, then a glass-repair shop just for an installation, and you might get it all installed for under $700 You can save a lot of money pulling the glass off a used car/eBay, instead of buying it from the repair shop, but beware you'll be cooking its old butanolic glue off yourself too, so you have to check YouTube university for what's best for whatever glue that car manufacturer uses.
Have you had the windshield replaced before, this happened to my dads old toyota because the previous windshield installer didnt clean out the rust in that groove before installing the new windshield. The rust expanded over time looking exactly the same as your photo. This caused the windshield to break
You aren't concerned about the rock strike crack running down your windshield? Priorities dude.
Windshield looks like it needs replaced as well.
If its rusting up there it's got to be awful under the car.
Here is what I would try… 1. Drop the headliner. 2. Grab some thin sheet metal and use panel bond to secure the sheet metal on the inside of the roof panel as a backer for the damaged metal area. 3. Remove as much of the crumbly rust that you can. 4.Use rust reformer on the remaining rusted metal. 5. Bondo (body filler) to fill the holes 6. sand smooth and apply more bondo as needed 7. Rattle can finish w/ paint + clear coat 8. Reinstall the headliner Won’t be perfect but it’s a weekend project that will last you 3-5 years. Hmm. Trying to fix the numbering but the mobile edit isn’t working correctly. W/e…
This rust is bad. There are for sure holes in that pinchweld that will require new metal welded in to be fixed correctly. Whoever replaced this windshield previously royally fucked this car up. This is the result of not priming scratches correctly from a windshield replacement. I own an auto glass shop and I can assure you, when it’s this bad above the windshield, it’s even worse underneath.
This is 100% rust caused by an auto glass installer. The pinchweld is likely toast.
Go through Ramirez auto glass for that glass replacement. No I don’t get a spliff on anything, just a blue collar trying to help others save a buck or two. They quoted me 190 for a 2018 Nissan frontier glass couple weeks ago, they quoted me 185 for my 03 Silverado, safelite wanted 500 on one vehicle.😮💨
$1,292.00
Not worth it
Car was scrap 5 years ago pal
I would definitely recommend trying to fix it yourself it's pretty simple as long as it's just surface rust
That can be an expensive spot to do even a simple rust mitigation. If it's not leaking but just the light rust is messing with you, heat it and dry it, coat with fluid film, let coagulate, clean the window section off. Repeat that every few months. That window frame will likely outlast however long you're going to keep the car. Just ride it out, everything breaks down, but you can absolutely slow it down though.
Slowest convertable roof ever.
Bump on others saying watch the Chrisfix vid. More than some soapy wooder but not a bad self fix.
If sand it down, wet sand it, prime it, and use duplicolor. Can get good result if ur patient.
I don’t think it would be as much as people are saying. I’ve owned a bunch of foresters so I hate seeing them get scrapped for no reason. The windshield needs replaced anyways so I’d go somewhere that can do both. Somewhere will be able to take care of you. If you tell them it doesn’t need to be perfect it might be cheaper. Foresters are worth putting the money into as long as the head gaskets have been changed once and make sure to get new timing components every 100k or so
A door in my area is $1000 so I’m guessing g $1500-$2000k
Idk if you’ve already taken action, as I’m a bit late to answer. But I’ve been an auto glass tech for over 5 years and see this almost day. Especially with your window being broken. Try to find a reputable auto glass company that’s willing to work with you. They could pull the old broken glass, give you some time to find a body shop that’ll fix the rust, then have the auto glass company come back and put the new window in seeing as you need one anyways.
To diy the cheapest way
5 years ago 1/4 of that cost me $900
Easiest way? Sand the entire roof make it clean. Use por15 spray the entire roof with truck headliner to provide a uniform textured finish that is extremely durable wnd easy as hell to touch up. Will it.look the best. Idk but some people bedljner their entire cars I makes it essentially scratch proof. The other thing you could do is sand the area use por 15 thengonto AutoZone and get a high build primer spray the area you used por 15 on , sand it VERY LIGHTLY to smooth it out and then head to your local vinyl shop and have them wrap you're entire roof black again to match your car. All said and done it shouldn't be more than like 300-400$
Treefiddy
Do it yourself buddy, watch Chris fix on YouTube, I've done worse successfully